Indian shares close lower after special Diwali trading session

Reuters Staff

1 Min Read

Oct 19 (Reuters) - Indian shares ended lower on Thursday in a brief session of special “muhurat” trading for the festival of Diwali, with banking stocks such as ICICI Bank Ltd and HDFC Bank Ltd declining the most.

The trading session, which lasted for about an hour, saw the benchmark BSE index close down 0.6 percent at 32,389.96, while the broader NSE index ended 0.63 percent lower at 10,146.55. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank fell 2.1 percent and 1.3 percent respectively.

“Muhurat” means auspicious in Hindi, and many traders believe gains made during this session bring prosperity and wealth in the year ahead. Regular market trading will resume on Monday. (Reporting by Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens)